Slaying A Leviathan
by Diana Moon Glampers
Summary: Calvin is 15. His psyche is under attack by a monster called The Killer. Large portions of the story take place inside his mind. Rated M for violence and because there is a lime in there somewhere. HEAVY REVISIONS! Now with a brand new ending that is actually coherant!
1. Murder

Slaying A Leviathan  
By Diana Moon Glampers

I own nothing. Not even original characters. Go ahead and steal them, I don't care enough to give a rat's ass on a plaque.

Content Warning- There is a lime in there somewhere. Some of the scenes are violent and graphic.

Chapter 1  
Murder

Tracer Bullet was in his office, smoking his cheap drug store cigar. He was polishing his gun, expecting a dame or some low life to bust on in through his door as ask him to solve a mystery for him. As expected, he heard a knock, and opened it.  
"Tracer Bullet?" A voice said.  
"Come on in. You looking for a gumshoe?" Tracer Bullet said. The door opened. A large, anthropomorphic tiger walked in.  
"My name is Hobbes Tiger. I want you to investigate a crime." The tiger said  
"Well shoot, what is it?" Tracer Bullet asked.  
"I saw a murder." Hobbes said.

"You saw a murder, Hobbes?" Tracer Bullet said.  
"There was a man, a horrible man wearing a dark cloak and a mask. He had huge claws, the kind that would give me nightmares." Hobbes said. Tracer Bullet interrupted Hobbes.  
"Whoa, man! I don't want to die! Take this investigation somewhere else!" Tracer Bullet said.  
"Please? You need to help me! He killed someone important to me. He killed Spaceman Spiff." Hobbes said. Tracer Bullet's fear quickly turned to anger.  
"Spaceman Spiff? What kind of a deranged monster would kill him?" Tracer Bullet said.  
"I don't know. Can you find out who the masked man is?" Hobbes said.  
"I'll try. Can you take me to the scene of the crime?" Tracer Bullet said.  
"Sure."

Hobbes led Tracer Bullet to a dark alleyway. There was a small, wrecked spaceship in the back. Tracer dug through the wreckage to try to find a body, but only found Spiff's clothes. There were small drops of blood on them, but otherwise, there was no evidence of Spiff.  
"So, how did this happen?" Tracer Bullet asked, lighting a new cigar.  
"I was waiting for Spaceman Spiff to come here, so we could play. His spaceship was coming close, and I was about to jump on him to welcome him home. Then, out of nowhere, the man, the evil man with the mask and claws, jumped out of the shadows, and tore Spiff's head off. I tried to get him. I tried to kill that monster, until he disappeared." Hobbes said. Tracer Bullet took a long puff from his cigar.  
"Sounds gruesome. Were there any other witnesses?" Tracer asked.  
"No. I was the only one." Hobbes said.  
"Well, I'll take a look at the crime scene and gather evidence. Rest easy, Hobbes. I will catch the killer." Tracer Bullet said.  
"Thanks, old buddy." Hobbes said, hugging Tracer Bullet.


	2. Dark Place

Chapter 2  
Dark Place

Calvin was sleeping at the moment. His sleep was when his imagination was most active, which was saying something for a kid who imagines dinosaurs and space monsters in everyday life. Normally, Calvin's mind was a happy place. Every so often, there would be a dark or cynical thought, but for the most part, it was fun and happy. Unfortunately, Calvin was not happy. His mind and imagination was, but he was not. He sat in a dark room at the center of his mind, isolated from the rest of his world, away from the dinosaurs, away from space adventures, away from Tracer Bullet's mysteries, and away from the superheroics of Stupendous Man. Calvin was in his dark place at the moment, a place so dark that it could not be accessed by most of his other thoughts.

Calvin was thinking in his dark place at the moment, contemplating what he would do. His thoughts were interrupted when a creature entered. It was the clawed masked man, the same one that killed Spaceman Spiff.  
"Oh, it's you." Calvin said, knowing who the masked monster was. The creature's name was Killer. He existed in Calvin's mind and imagination, but Calvin was not sure if he created him or not. He did not act by Calvin's will, but on his own and would talk with Calvin in his dark place. Killer had only recently been appearing in Calvin's psyche. Calvin did not trust Killer and wondered what he was hiding under that mask.

"I killed him." Killer said.  
"Who?" Calvin said, angered.  
"Spaceman Spiff. He's dead. Forever." Killer said. Calvin was angry now. He clenched his fist.  
"You jerk! Why did you do that?" Calvin shouted.  
"It needed to be done. Besides, my name isn't Killer for nothing." Killer taunted. Calvin tried to imagine Spaceman Spiff, but came up with nothing. He tried his best to imagine him going on an adventure and flying to the moon, but was unable.  
"What the hell did you do to me?" Calvin shouted.  
"I made you better, Calvin. Expect great things from me. Trust me, things are going to change around here and whether you like it or not, it's happening." Killer said.

Calvin was unable to control his anger. He dove at Killer, trying to pummel him, but Killer stepped out of the way. He grabbed Calvin by the neck and held his claw up to the boy's neck.  
"How… How did you do that?" Calvin said, scared.  
"It's cute how you want to stop me. I can't hurt you yet, though. It's not something I want to do." Killer said. He tossed Calvin into a corner of his dark place and left.


	3. A Day In His Life

Chapter 3  
A Day In His Life

Diana's Note- I had to censor this chapter a bit. I didn't want to offend families that lost loved ones in a certain school shooting that is referenced in here. School killings can be a touchy subject, and I hope I handled it well here.

Calvin awakened from his nightmare. His mother was grabbing him and screaming at him.  
"Calvin! Get up! You have to go to school!" She said.  
"School. Hate it." Calvin said, slowly climbing out of bed.  
"Honestly, Calvin? Maybe you'd hate school a bit less if you had friends." Calvin's mother said, as Calvin walked to the bathroom.  
"I don't need friends, I have Hobbes. Besides, all the kids at school are morons." Calvin said.  
"You're too old for that stuffed tiger. When are you going to throw it away?" Calvin's mother said. Calvin was not listening. He was already in the bathroom, changing his clothes.

Calvin was fifteen years old and his life had not changed very much since he was a child. He still had his stuffed tiger, Hobbes. He still hated girls, and most of all, Susie. He still had imaginary adventures. Lastly, he still had no friends. Calvin was a raging misanthrope, believing all other humans on Earth to either be idiots or tormentors. He hated society and blamed it for making all the dumb people dumb and all the smart people evil.

In Calvin's mind, he was still a child. He even still dressed the same as he did back then with his black and red striped shirt. Once he was dressed, he went to eat breakfast before school. His favorite cereal, Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs, was no longer made. The company that made them was sued over a case that they promoted diabetes, something Calvin found evil in the world. He did not like that something he loved would be taken away from him because it was found not fit for society. Instead, he ate Marshmallow Fruit Drops, which had almost as much sugar as his old favorite. The box had a cartoon Deer on it, Deery Dave, who starred in commercials that had very good animation. He usually went exploring the world, looking for magic Sugar Fruit. Calvin loved these commercials, even though he knew that they only existed to sell food. Calvin's mother did not enjoy buying Marshmallow Fruit Drops for Calvin. It was a cereal clearly marketed toward children.

Once Calvin was done eating, he headed out to wait for the school bus. Calvin always sat next to Susie on the bus. She was the closest thing he had to a human friend. She was the only human Calvin would talk to that was around his age. Even then, Calvin sometimes resented her, if only because he considered her an idiot. He was still convinced that her bangs covered lobotomy scars.

Unlike Calvin, Susie had changed a lot since she was a child. She had friends, though Calvin never bothered to learn their names. He simply considered them "Susie's slimy girl friends that slime up the place". She also had grown into a very pretty teenager, one that Calvin found beautiful, but suppressed it into the back of his mind. He told himself that she was still gross and slimy as ever, but deep in his subconscious, he wanted to be with her.

School was a boring blur for Calvin. He daydreamed most of the time, only learning the bare minimum to keep going. He had problems daydreaming that day, though. Spaceman Spiff was dead, so he had difficulties trying to relate what was going on to something fun. His imagination was still alive, even without Spiff. He could still zone out and he could still pretend he was a dinosaur.

"Calvin the Allosaurus bursts in through Study Hall!" Calvin thought to himself. He imagined bursting through the wall and roaring, scaring all of the other students. The imaginary Allosaurus then squat down and scooped up a crowd of panicking students, chomping on them, drooling blood, and spitting out the bones. The thought of violently preying upon the students as a dinosaur made Calvin smile.

Calvin's boredom turned into happiness as his fantasy continued, until he saw Killer, invading his imagination.  
"What are you doing here?" Dinosaur Calvin snorted, licking blood off of a student's head.  
"This isn't socially acceptable, Calvin. You aren't supposed to think about massacring a school." Killer said.  
"Why? Because I'm not allowed to have fun?" Dinosaur Calvin roared. Killer stood there, ignoring the fact that Calvin was at least four times his size and had huge, sharp teeth. He jumped onto Dinosaur Calvin and clawed out his eyes. Dinosaur Calvin shrieked in pain, while Killer continued gutting him.

"A school killer, huh? Is that what you want? You want to be like (NAME REMOVED) who shot up (SCHOOL REMOVED)? Everybody hates him and everybody hates you." Killer said. Dinosaur Calvin laughed, even though he was bleeding profusely.  
"That was real. This isn't. You aren't real either." He said to Killer.  
"That's true. And dinosaurs went extinct years ago. Goodbye." Killer said. Calvin morphed back into reality after Killer said this. He returned to study hall. There were no dinosaurs, no mountain of corpses, and no hole through the wall.

Calvin tried to imagine himself as a dinosaur again, but he couldn't. He remembered back in (YEAR REMOVED) when victims of (MASSACRE REMOVED) were mourned on that terrible day. He could not think about dinosaurs. He could not think about destroying his school and killing many innocent students.  
"What is this feeling?" Calvin thought. It was empathy, something Calvin very rarely felt. For a split second, his misanthropy melted away and he felt that maybe the world he lived in was not full of morons and tormentors that deserved to die, but then, it sprang right back up as though it never happened.  
"Hey dipshit, study hall is over." A student that sat next to him said.


	4. Behemoth and Leviathan

Chapter 4  
Behemoth and Leviathan

Once Calvin returned home from school, as always, Hobbes jumped on him, excited that he was finally back.  
"I missed you, old buddy." Calvin said, hugging his tiger.  
"I missed you too. I get lonely at home." Hobbes said.  
"I was lonely too." Calvin said, standing up.  
"Mom says that I have to get rid of you someday, but nothing's going to tear us apart." He continued.

Hobbes was suddenly worried.  
"Are you okay, Calvin? Usually you're cranky when I knock you down when you come home from school." He said.  
"The dinosaurs died." Calvin said, bluntly.  
"What?" Hobbes said, worried.  
"The same man who killed Spaceman Spiff killed them. His name is Killer." Calvin said.  
"That's who that was? We need to stop him!" Hobbes said.  
"How? He's really tough! I tried to bite him when I was a dinosaur, but it didn't work!" Calvin said, getting angry at the thought of Killer.  
"I have just the idea!" Hobbes said. He led Calvin to the garage and showed him an empty cardboard box.

Hobbes grabbed a marker and wrote on the cardboard box. "Duplicator".  
"So, what do you think?" Hobbes said, impressed with his work.  
"That's genius! I can make a whole army of myself and kick his butt!" Calvin said. Calvin crawled under the cardboard box, only to find that he was unable to get out.  
"Hello? Hobbes? Hobbes? Help!" Calvin shouted. Hobbes tried to lift the box up, but it was too heavy.  
"Calvin, I think you're trapped! I'll go get help!" Hobbes said.  
"Thanks, old buddy! I'll wait for you!" Calvin said.

Hobbes started to run for help, until he saw Killer, waiting for him.  
"Leviathan. I see you've come alone." Killer said.  
"Leviathan? You call me Hobbes!" He said, angered at the sight of Killer.  
"But you are a leviathan, are you not? You have swallowed Calvin, and must disgorge him into a new epoch, a new age of his life. He's been inside your living prison, Leviathan. I'm the behemoth, here to slay you." Killer said.  
"Slay me? I'll have you know that I'm a homicidal jungle cat! Touch me and you're dead!" Hobbes said. Killer laughed.  
"We'll see about that."

Killer lunged at Hobbes, ready to slash him with his claws. Hobbes jumped out of the way and pounced on Killer. They rolled on the ground, Killer slicing at Hobbes as he was mauled.  
"Get off of me!" Killer shouted, punching Hobbes in the face. The tiger fell off of him and they both climbed to their feet. Once there, Hobbes pounced on Killer again, knocking him to the ground.  
"Let's see what under that mask before I slice out your spleen!" Hobbes said. He tore Killer's mask off, revealing Calvin's face. Hobbes was shocked. He felt as though he was going to cry.  
"Calvin?" He said.  
"No. I'm an aspect of Calvin, just as how Stupendous Man and Spaceman Spiff are aspects too." Killer said, standing up.

"Why would Calvin need you? Isn't he happy?" Hobbes said.  
"He needs me as means of growing up. I'm going to kill every piece of his childhood until nothing is left but me. Then I'll die too and he'll be a model citizen, fit for society." Killer said.  
"That's not right! People need their childish things! You can't just become a walking zombie! It's not right!" Hobbes said.  
"Well, it is. Society is what makes people good. Without laws and without reason humans would be savages, raping each other until they eventually rape themselves into extinction." Killer said, putting his mask back on.  
"Calvin would never think such things! He hates society! He doesn't want to be a part of it!" Hobbes said.  
"I'm a part of him, just like you, Leviathan. He's going to have to fit in with others eventually, whether you like it or not. You're going to be thrown away and you can't do anything about it. Life's a bitch for an imaginary friend, isn't it?" Killer laughed. Hobbes grew even more angry and pounced on Killer, disemboweling him. The monster's body melted away into dust, leaving nothing but his mask.

Hobbes ran back to Calvin, who was still under the box.  
"Calvin? Calvin? Speak to me, Calvin!" Hobbes shouted. He tried to move the box, but as before, it was too heavy. He knew Calvin was in there. He could hear Calvin breathing.  
"Stay with me, old buddy. I love you." Hobbes said, shedding a tear.


	5. Black

Chapter 5  
Black

Calvin had passed out underneath the box. In truth, the box was not heavy at all. Calvin could have easily moved it, but he did not. He wanted to be alone in the darkness, so that he could enter his dark place, completely alone, and away from everything else. He was away from the world of morons and tormentors that he hated so much. He was away from his imagination. He was away from Killer. It was lonely and peaceful in Calvin's dark place. He was happy.

While in his dark place, Calvin had a visitor. It was not Killer, though. It was Susie Derkins.  
"Hi, Calvin." She said, smiling.  
"Susie? What are you doing here? This is the most inner part of my mind! How did you get in?" Calvin said.  
"You let me in." Susie laughed.  
"I let you in?" Calvin said.  
"Of course, silly! No one gets into your dark place unless you let them in! Here, why don't we brighten up the dark place? Wouldn't you like that?" Susie said, smiling.  
"Well… I guess if it makes you happy." Calvin said.

Calvin's dark place morphed into a vast field. The grass was tall, the sun was in the sky, there were light, fluffy clouds above, and there was no human life besides Calvin and Susie. Once this was done, Susie walked really close to Calvin, getting into his personal space, and started furiously grinding her hips against his.  
"Take it off!" She commanded. Calvin was not sure if he liked where this was going. The child inside him wanted to punch Susie and tell her to leave his dark place for being a slimy girl. Calvin was not a child anymore, though. He was a teenager, filled with hormones and had secretly loved Susie for the greater part of his life. Instead of taking his clothes off or punching Susie, he fell to the ground, held his head in pain, and cried.

Susie stopped being seductive and went to see if Calvin was okay.  
"What happened? Did I hurt you?" She said, worried.  
"No. I'm having an identity crisis. It hurts. Help me." Calvin said, between his tears.  
"Should I go?" Susie asked.  
"No. Stay, Susie. I need you." Calvin said. Susie was not used to Calvin being so nice to her. It did not seem right. The beautiful field reverted back to Calvin's dark place, but there was a sign hoisted onto one of the walls.  
"You cannot deny who you really are. The question is, who are you?"

As this happened, Stupendous Man flew into Calvin's dark place.  
"Eew! A girl! Why did you let her in?" Stupendous Man said.  
"Shut up!" Susie said, suddenly angered.  
"Really? I'm a superhero, and I'm here to save Calvin from his identity crisis. Why are you here, you stupid girl?" Stupendous Man said.  
"Calvin let me in. He wanted me here. He's lonely. He needs love." Susie said.  
"Love? Eew! Gross!" Stupendous Man said. He turned to Calvin.  
"Calvin! Listen! You know who you really are! Who have you been for all of your life? Who have you been since you met Hobbes? You! You like dinosaurs and nature and going on adventures! You hate school, girls, and society! Can't you see who you really are?" Stupendous Man said.  
"I don't know! I don't know anymore!" Calvin cried.  
"No! Don't listen to him! You don't have to be a slave to your past. You can have the future, with me." Susie said. A song by the rock band Meat Loaf resonated in Calvin's head. "Give me the future with the modern girl." Calvin stopped crying and stood up. He turned to Stupendous Man.  
"Leave." He said, sternly.  
"What? Leave? I thought you loved me!" Stupendous Man said. Calvin started to reconsider his thoughts, until Killer entered his Dark Place. The monster disemboweled Stupendous Man in seconds, before Calvin could react.

"What did you just do?" Calvin said, ready to beat Killer into a pulp.  
"I killed Stupendous Man. Are you blind?" Killer taunted. Calvin started to throw a punch at Killer, until Susie grabbed his arm to stop him.  
"It's okay, Calvin. Let Killer into your life. He's good for you. He knows what's best for you." Susie said.  
"He's turning me into a grown-up! I don't want to be a soulless idiotic grown-up! I want to be me!" Calvin said with tears in his eyes.  
"You'll need Killer to shed the identity of who you once were and become who you're going to be. His methods are brutal, but he's looking out for you." Susie said.  
"Listen to the girl, Calvin. She's right." Killer said. Susie moved closer to Calvin and kissed him.  
"Come on Calvin. Stop clinging to your past." She said.

Killer removed his mask and showed Calvin his face.  
"You're me?" Calvin said.  
"Maybe. I only am if you cooperate. I'm going to take control of you no matter what you do. You can only fight me for so long." Killer said. Calvin felt like he was letting go something wonderful that moment, like his last bastion of who he once was just disintegrated. He thought about everything he was giving up. Imagination. Wonder. Possibilities. Anger. Misanthropy. Calvin felt like he was going to cry.  
"I know my real identity, Susie. I made a choice, and I chose the future. I chose love." Calvin said with a heavy heart. He embraced Susie and wept.  
"That's a good boy." Killer said, putting his mask back on. It took torment and blackmail, but Calvin finally gave in. The monster left knowing that his work here was done.

Susie grabbed Calvin without warning and kissed him. Calvin had never been kissed before. It felt strange to him, but he liked it.  
"I love you, Calvin. It's just, this isn't theplace." Susie said.  
"It isn't?" Calvin said. His dark place morphed into the beautiful field again.  
"No, really, this isn't the place." Susie said.  
"Why?" Calvin asked.  
"I'm not the real Susie, Calvin. If your want me, you'll have to leave your mind and chase me." Susie said. She began running and laughing.  
"Chase me, Calvin! Chase me!" She ran away.

Calvin awakened. He was still under the box, but he forgot why. The only thing he could think about was Susie now. He thought of her warm smile, her charming laugh, her soft skin, and many other things about her. Calvin felt strange. It was a very alien feeling to him, to know in his conscious that he loved Susie. Normally, he projected these feelings into Hobbes, but now he did not need to do that anymore. He could deny who he really was no longer and was both happy and afraid of what he was turning into.


	6. Struggle

Chapter 6  
Struggle

Hobbes was not with Calvin when he left the box. He was inside Calvin's mind, wandering about. It was very different from how he remembered it. There used to be dinosaurs all over the place, but now there were only bones. Spaceman Spiff used to be flying about and fighting aliens. Nothing was left of him. There were no space ships in the sky, or any stars for him to explore for that matter. There was also no Stupendous Man patrolling the streets, looking to stop crime. He was gone now.

Tracer Bullet ran to Hobbes, tired and panting.  
"Hobbes! He's back!" The detective said.  
"Who?" Hobbes said, cautious.  
"Killer! He's back!" Tracer Bullet said. Hobbes was furious now.  
"Where is he?" The Tiger said, baring his claws.  
"He's in my office! He's after me! Hobbes, please, he'll chew me up and spit me out like a stick of gum!" Tracer Bullet said, panicking.  
"Don't worry about him, Calvin. I'll show that pee brain not to mess with my friends." Hobbes said to Tracer Bullet.

Hobbes burst into Tracer Bullet's office. Killer was there, waiting for him.  
"You! How are you still alive? I killed you!" Hobbes shouted like thunder.  
"I was reborn with the power of love, Leviathan. Do you know a girl, a girl you love named Susie?" Killer said.  
"Susie? What did you do with her?" Hobbes said, angered.  
"The only thing I did to her was love her. We have something in common now, don't we, Leviathan?" Killer said.  
"Stop calling me, that! I'm Hobbes! Not Leviathan! Hobbes!"

Hobbes lunged toward Killer, but Killer stepped out of the way. He clawed Hobbes across the side.  
"The Tiger's stripes have scars now!" Killer laughed. Hobbes was even angrier now. He jumped on top of Killer, knocking him down, and bit out his jugular. Killer bled profusely, struggled, and eventually stopped moving. Tracer Bullet walked in.  
"Is it okay now?" He said.  
"Yeah. He's dead, but I know he's going to come back." Hobbes said, with blood all over his paws and mouth. He began to leave.  
"Where are you going? You have to protect me if Killer's coming back!" Tracer Bullet shouted.  
"I need to speak to Calvin." Hobbes said, determined to know what was happening.


	7. Pursuit

Chapter 7  
Pursuit

Before Calvin went to bed that night, he called Susie on his phone.  
"Hello?" Susie said.  
"It's me, Calvin.  
"Calvin? What did you want to talk about?" Susie said.  
"I want to talk to you tomorrow on the bus. Also, I love you." Calvin said.  
"You what?" Susie said, shocked. Calvin hung up after that, not even caring what she was going to say next. He went to sleep and soon met Hobbes in his mind. They were both in his dark place, ready to talk.

"Hobbes? You're here, in my dark place? What is it?" Calvin asked.  
"Why did you bring Killer back?" Hobbes asked, angered.  
"I brought Killer back to life?" Calvin said, confused.  
"You did. I took care of him, though." Hobbes said.  
"Did you really?" a voice said from the darkness. Killer walked into Calvin's dark place.  
"Why are you here? I thought you were done coercing me!" Calvin said, angered.  
"I'm here to slay the Leviathan. Why else?" Killer said. Calvin stepped between Hobbes and Killer.  
"I won't let you touch him, not as long as I stand here! Now get out of here before I have to kill you!" Calvin shouted.  
"Kill me? You wouldn't kill me, would you?" Killer said, his voice warping. He removed his mask, revealing Susie's face.  
"Don't you want me, Calvin? Don't you want to hold me in your arms, to kiss me, to love me?" Killer said. Hobbes was shocked.  
"I thought you were Calvin! You had Calvin's face before!" He said.  
"The mind works in strange ways, Leviathan. Why don't I take a form you're a little more familiar with?" Killer said. Kill's body morphed into Susie's, which disturbed Hobbes greatly.

"Hey Calvin, can you make this place look like a field again? I loved the way it looked." Susie said.  
"Don't listen to her! She's really Killer!" Hobbes said. Calvin turned to Hobbes, angered.  
"Hobbes, go away." He said. Hobbes was crushed now. Calvin had been mean with him before, but he never outright told him to go away.  
"Go away? Don't you love me? Don't you want me around?" Hobbes said. Susie turned to Hobbes.  
"I don't know if I want to be with a man who keeps ratty old plush toys around. Throw away that stupid tiger." She said.  
"Susie? I thought you loved me!" Hobbes said.  
"Maybe back when I was eight." Susie scoffed. Hobbes looked up at Calvin, who was standing at Susie's side.  
"I'm sorry I was mean with you, old buddy, but I need my space. Listen, we can be together later, when Susie isn't around, okay?" Calvin said.  
"Okay." Hobbes said. He walked out of the field, saddened. He thought Killer was the one who could hurt him and remove him from Calvin's conscious. It was Calvin who could hurt him much worse than Killer ever could.

"Thanks for getting rid of that tiger. He was a major mood killer." Susie said. She touched Calvin's back, ready to kiss him again.  
"Yeah. He is." Calvin said, smiling.  
"Good. So… Do you want to chase me?" Susie said. Before Calvin could answer, Susie ran away, laughing. Calvin ran after Susie. She kicked off her shoes as she ran. Calvin had the compulsion to do the same, but his shoes were on too tight. By the time he had removed them, he was blindsided. Susie had tackled him. She was naked now, but anatomically incorrect. She lacked genitals and nipples for reasons Calvin was unsure of.  
"Take it off, Calvin! I want to see you without any clothes!" Susie commanded. As Susie said this, the grassy field suddenly grew flowers.

Calvin had a strange feeling that he had never experienced before. He had felt a smaller and much weaker form of it before when he was around Susie, but it felt confined, and chained, like a beast locked away. It was always howling and trying to break free, to tell Calvin who he really was, how he really felt underneath all the layers of traditions that he had been holding onto since childhood. It was like the beast inside Calvin was loose now. There was nothing stopping him from feeling this way now. No nagging voice inside of his head telling him that girls were evil, no thoughts in his head about Susie corrupting Hobbes and being one of the mindless masses of idiots populating Earth, and no cynical thoughts of how she had a lobotomy at an early age.  
"The beast is loose." Calvin said. His clothes magically melted away and he began kissing Susie in the middle of the flower field. Strangely enough, Calvin had no genitals either.

Once they were finished kissing, Calvin stood up with Susie following.  
"Susie, I love you. You're the only thing that's pure and good in this world. You're like a shining ray of hope in a world populated by tormentors and idiots. I want to be with you." Calvin said. He felt very dirty saying this, like Hobbes was his shining beacon of hope, not Susie.  
"You can be with me, Calvin." Susie said.  
"Really?" Calvin said, impressed.  
"Yes. You just have to chase me. Remember? I'm not real." Susie said.  
"That's right. You aren't." Calvin said, saddened.  
"Yes. I exist as an idealization of not just Susie, but as a symbol of everything you desire in an emotional and physical relationship. There is a real Susie for you in the real world, though. You can get her. All you have to do is chase your dreams and leave behind your old ways."

Calvin thought for a second.  
"I want Susie and I want to move forward. I also don't want to change who I am, to leave behind what I love about myself." Calvin said.  
"You need to be true to yourself, Calvin. I agree with that. But are you really a child inside? Are you really a brat who hates girls and society? Or, deep down, are you a lonely teenager, trying desperately to hold onto things that you should have thrown away a long time ago?" Susie asked.  
"I don't know." Calvin said, sitting down. He buried his hands in his face, unsure if he was going to cry.  
"Killer exists for a reason, Calvin. Maybe what he's doing isn't so bad." Susie said. She left the flowering field, leaving Calvin alone. His dark place reverted back to what it was before, dark and lonely.


	8. Influence

Chapter 8  
Influence

Susie awakened from her sleep, her head aching in pain.  
"Shit! Is it okay if I don't have to do that too much?" She said.  
"Oh, don't worry. You won't have to." Killer said. She climbed out of bed and readied herself for school. Something Calvin did not know about Susie was that she knew how to astrally project her spirit out of her body. She had known Killer for some time now. They were working together since the beginning.

Susie was the only person on Earth that loved Calvin. His parents used to love him, back when he was an infant, but as Calvin grew, their child grew world weary faster than most children his age. He always thought about how he hated the world around him, hated society for trying to mold him into an idiot or a tormentor, and was always so very full of anger and hate. They thought it was only a phase, but Calvin continued this attitude well into his teenage years. Their plan was to force him to leave the house once he graduated high school and visit him only enough so that he still had the illusion that they cared.

Susie, however, felt sorry for Calvin. His resistance only made her love him more. She wanted to help him, and make him feel better about the world. Unfortunately, Calvin already had someone for that. It was his stuffed tiger and imaginary friend, Hobbes.

Susie's parents were into new age mysticism and healing. As a child, Susie had no interest in her parents' strange ways, until she decided to try astral projection. She had not completely mastered astral projection, as she always awakened with a splitting headache. On her journeys into the astral realm, she met Killer, and devised a plan to help Calvin. Sometimes Susie doubted her actions, wondering if what she was doing to Calvin and if it was evil and a violation of free will. She asked Killer once, but he never answered. She decided to ask again today, seeing how close she was to obtaining her goal.

Susie's parents were both at work now. Susie was very mature and independent. She could wake herself up, shower, and eat her own breakfast without any sort of assistance. Killer was still with her, though. He was always with her, lingering in the back of her mind. Susie was still not entirely sure what Killer was, but she theorized that he was an astral being that lived in the collective unconscious and could jump from one mind to another.  
"Killer?" Susie asked, as she ate her breakfast.  
"Yes?" Killer said.  
"I was always wondering, is what I'm doing right? Is forcing Calvin to be what I want him to be good?" Susie said.  
"Yes. Do you know what a manchild is? Have you seen people who are forty and still live in their parents' basement? Do you know how psychotic and beyond repair some of those freaks are?" Killer said, with growing anger.  
"He's headed down that path without me, isn't he?" Susie said.  
"That's why we have to yank our proverbial Peter Pan away from his Neverland. Never doubt your actions, Susie. We are fighting for the right cause. Never forget that." Killer said.

Susie did not know if what she was doing to Calvin really was morally right, though. She sometimes wondered if love made her evil, if her burning desire for a new Calvin was consuming her, and if her unyielding care and effort to try to shape Calvin into something more socially acceptable was like robbing him of his choice in life, his choice to be what he wanted to be. It also meant killing Hobbes, Calvin's best friend. Imaginary or not, Calvin had a much more meaningful relationship with Hobbes than he would with any human. He had schizoid tendencies that Susie knew would only be amplified with age. The problem was that Calvin wanted to be insane and he wanted to be how he was, even if deep down he was really someone else.  
"Susie, the key is to simply take sides on his identity crisis." Killer said to Susie, back when she was planning everything. She knew that neither side of Calvin's identity would go down easy, though. On one end was the artificial Calvin, the emerging young adult that was ready to be accepted into the world that would not even exist without Susie and Killer's influence. On the other end was his inner child, who was inseparable from Hobbes and inseparable from his misanthropic ideals. Susie sometimes wondered if there was a "good" side to this conflict, but stashed those doubts into the back of her mind, as Killer commanded.

Susie left for the bus, which was just pulling in once she was finished with breakfast. As always, Calvin sat next to her. He was different from usual, this time. He looked happy.  
"Hey Susie. Remember last night? Remember the phone call?" He said.  
"I remember." Susie laughed.  
"I wanted to tell you, that I want to be with you. Not now, though. I still have some things to sort out in my life. But once I'm done, we can be together." Calvin said.  
"What do you need to do?" Susie said, curious.  
"Personal stuff. Don't worry about it." Calvin said.


	9. Goodbye Blue Monday

Chapter 9  
Goodbye Blue Monday

Hobbes was wandering Calvin's mind as he was in school. It felt strange and lonely. It was completely empty and lifeless except for him. There was no fun, no adventure, no hate, and no anger. Tracer Bullet's office was empty. The stars in the sky were all blacked out with no Spaceman Spiff to explore them. There was no Stupendous Man or Captain Napalm and no criminals for them to stop. Most of all, there was no Calvin. He was in his dark place, refusing to let anyone inside. Hobbes did not know how long Calvin would be in his dark place. It could be only for a couple of hours or the whole school day. It made him feel uneasy and lonely. Hobbes felt like he could cry.  
"Don't you still love me, Calvin?" He said, quietly to himself.

"Hello, Leviathan." A voice said from behind Hobbes. Hobbes knew exactly who it was when he turned around.  
"Killer. What did you do?" He said, his sadness turning into anger.  
"I wiped out all life in this world to make room for a new one. You're the only thing left to kill, Leviathan. A new dawn approaches when you die, and I will die with you soon." Killer said.  
"Kill me? So you can force Calvin to be like all those morons in the world? Forget it! I'm his last bastion of sanity, the last remnant of who he really is, and you're not going to trick him into being someone else, not while I'm still alive!" Hobbes said, getting angrier.  
"Free will? Is that what you fight for? You are pathetic. Calvin was given the ability to be whatever he wanted to be. Then he threw it away when he decided to become a child. When given a choice, mankind will always choose wrong. He needs to grow up. He needs his free will suppressed so that he can become a man and move on with his life." Killer said.  
"Why do you hate freedom, huh? Making choices is what makes life so great, even if you're making the wrong ones. Besides, society sucks! It makes people into evil robots that only do as society says without thinking. Calvin did not decide to be a child. He decided to be happy!" Hobbes said.  
"You're a fool, Leviathan. A lack of society and laws will not make Calvin happy. It will only hurt him. Our clash of ideals seems to have come to this." Killer said, brandishing his claws.  
"You're going to die for good today, Killer. I'm going to be sure of it." Hobbes said.

Hobbes tackled Killer to the ground, growling and screaming in a frenzy. He tore at Killer's flesh, until the monster sliced Hobbes in the gut. Hobbes jumped back, and stared into Killer's mask, gazing into the hatred in his eyes. He tackled Killer to the ground again, and bit into his arm. He pulled and jerked, until finally, Killer's arm was dismembered. Killer did not scream in pain. He was silent. He tried to slash Hobbes with his remaining arm, but Hobbes jumped out of the way. Hobbes then bit into his other arm and tore it off, just as he did the other arm.  
"I guess you win, Leviathan. I can come back to life one hundred times, and I will never defeat you." Killer said. Hobbes did not say a word. He removed Killer's mask and saw Calvin's face. Hobbes could tell that this was not Calvin, and the face dissolved into Susie's face.  
"You aren't really her, are you?" Hobbes said.  
"Keep looking. You have yet to see my true face." Killer said. The Susie face melted away, revealing Killer's true face. It was indescribably hideous.  
"What are you?" Hobbes said, horrified. Killer laughed and coughed up blood.  
"It doesn't matter. You're never seeing me again after this." Killer said.

"Why did you have multiple faces if you had that mask? It seems kind of… pointless." Hobbes said, calming down.  
"My face is symbolic of who controls me. I had Calvin's face when he willed me to kill his childish thoughts. When I was Susie, she was the one using me to get inside Calvin's head, to fix him." Killer said.  
"Wait, Susie is who you are working for?" Hobbes said.  
"She was pulling my strings the whole time. Don't hate her. She loves you on some level, Leviathan, even if she wants you dead." Killer said. Hobbes was angry now.  
"I'll kill her!" He shouted. He delivered the final blow. Hobbes was not sure if Killer was dead for good, or even if he could die, but he knew that he was not coming back.


	10. Free Will

Chapter 10  
Free Will

It was after school. Calvin was at Susie's house. Her parents were not home. Calvin's mind was clear and his thoughts were certain. He had no voices in the back of his head anymore, no one telling him that girls are slimy, no one telling him to hold onto his childhood traditions, and nothing stopping him from pursuing a relationship with his new love and former enemy.

As Calvin followed Susie into her house she started to doubt her actions. Killer was not there to tell her to never doubt them. He was dead and no longer had influence over her thoughts. "He's an adult now." Susie thought to herself.  
"He isn't himself anymore. I took away his identity." Susie thought to herself. An unyielding wave of guilt swept over Susie. The repercussion of what she had done had finally sunk in. "Why did I do this?"

"Listen, Calvin. I have something I have to confess." Susie said.  
"What is it?" Calvin said.  
"You've been seeing me in your thoughts and dreams lately. That wasn't a vision of me. It really was me." Susie said.  
"What?" Calvin said, confused.  
"Here, let me show you. I have some stuff in my room that might help." Susie said. She led Calvin into her room. She had a book on her bed, called "Gateways to the Astral Realm".  
"Do you know what astral projection is?" She asked.  
"No. What is it?" Calvin asked.  
"By use of meditation and focussing my psychic energy, I can leave my body and explore the astral realm. That's where I met Killer." Susie said. Calvin was startled now.  
"How did you know about Killer?" He said.  
"I entered your mind. I'm the one who has orchestrated all of this, all the killings of your old friends, the removal of your old childish thoughts, everything. I… I just feel bad about it now. I took away your free will." Susie said.  
"It's okay. I don't mind. I don't miss them." Calvin said.  
"How would I know that, though? I forced you to think that way. I had Killer alter your entire thought process, how your mind even works, just to agree with that!" Susie said. She started to cry.  
"Don't cry, Susie. Please." Calvin said, in a reassuring voice.  
"You don't get it! I didn't fall in love with this… this husk of what you were! I want you back, Calvin." Susie said.

While Susie cried, there was one last thought in his head that did not agree with him, one last fragment of his conscious that rebelled against his actions. It was Hobbes.  
"She wants to mold you into someone you're not! She's trying to remove your freedom, your choice of being able to be what you want to be!" Calvin hated this thought. He hated that there was still something left of his former self still lingering. He also hated that he had been growing apart from his best friend, his old buddy.  
"Susie, you said that you can walk into my mind, right?" Calvin said.  
"Yeah?" Susie said, wiping away her tears.  
"I'm going to use my free will. Come with me into my mind." Calvin said.  
"What are you going to do?" Susie said.  
"Killer's gone. He left my mind. I can feel it. There's still one last thing that needs to be removed, though. I'm the only one that can kill him. I'm going to choose to complete what Killer started. Come with me, Susie. I want you to be there when it happens." Calvin said. Susie was horrified at this.  
"I made you into this?" Susie said.  
"It doesn't matter what you made me into. This is who I am now." Calvin said. Susie thought about all those times she called Hobbes "that stupid tiger". He was finally going to die and she felt miserable for being the cause.

Susie sat down on her bed.  
"I'm going to dive into your mind. I'll be in with you soon, okay?" She said.  
"Okay." Calvin said. He sat down and began thinking. He was inside his dark place now. It was mostly empty, but it was still bright, brighter than his dark place was before. He saw Susie enter with him.  
"Good. You're here. I want you to see this." Calvin said.  
"Calvin, please. You don't have to kill him." Susie said.  
"No! This is what you wanted, isn't it? This is what you wanted me to be. I want you to see what I'm giving up to be with you. It's important to me." Calvin said. He thought about all of the good times he had with Hobbes over the years. The fight would be difficult for him, one of the most difficult things he would do in his life. Calvin had a plan, however. He was not about to kill his only friend that he had for all of his life. He was going to fake Hobbes' death.

Calvin let Hobbes into his dark place. He whispered to Hobbes.  
"Hobbes, this is going to sound strange, but I'm going to have to fake your death." Calvin said.  
"What? Why would you need to do that?" Hobbes said, shocked. Calvin tried to shush him.  
"Calm down. It's only to put on a show. Susie has been the one behind Killer. She's been manipulating me through dark magic. She's starting to feel guilty, so I'm going to try to play to that." Calvin said.  
"How would faking my death solve this?" Hobbes said.  
"She'll feel like shit when she realizes how much I would have to give up to be with her. Then, after that, I'll break her heart and she'll never want anything to do with me again." Calvin said.  
"I don't know, Calvin. Are you sure you want to burn bridges with Susie? She's pretty cute." Hobbes said.  
"Yeah, but she isn't so cute after she invades your mind, brainwashes your thoughts and summons a demon just to get you to be what she wants out of a man." Calvin said, reminding Hobbes of what Susie had done.  
"Okay. I guess I'll play along. This won't hurt, will it?" Hobbes asked, uneasy about faking his death.  
"I'm not making any promises, old buddy." Calvin said.

Calvin began the show.  
"Hobbes! This is your last day! I'm going to pick up where Killer left off!" his words dripping with pain.  
"Calvin. You're here. I've been meaning to have a talk with you." Hobbes said, playing along with the act.  
"Hobbes, this hurts me a lot to do this, but I have to kill you. I still love you, in fact I'll always love you, but I can't have you around anymore." Calvin said, feeling pain inside of him. Their act was very convincing. Susie could see that this was the worst pain that Calvin had ever felt. Hobbes snarled, continuing the act.  
"I thought you'd say something like that, you traitor. You're letting a woman control your mind. You're turning into a mindless robot, and I won't let you do that." Hobbes said, baring his claws. Calvin held up his fists. He whispered to Hobbes.  
"I can't hit you first, Hobbes. You're going to have to start this one." Calvin said.  
"I don't want to hit you either." Hobbes said to Calvin. It hurt Calvin to do this, but he threw the first punch, jamming his fist straight into Hobbes' gut.  
"You didn't say we were playing rough!" Hobbes shouted, suddenly turning violent.

Hobbes lunged toward Calvin, knocking him down. It felt a lot like how Hobbes would tackle Calvin when he returned home from school, but it was not out of joy and playfulness. It was angry, violent, and filled with a powerful sadness that had been growing inside Hobbes ever since Calvin began visiting his dark place. He bit into Calvin's arm, tearing into it, until Calvin slammed his fist into his tiger's head, loosening the grip of Hobbes' jaws enough to free his arm.

As Susie watched, she could tell that this was very hard for Calvin. He was in pain, both sides of him. She watched as Hobbes slashed Calvin across the chest, spraying blood everywhere. She watched as Calvin grabbed Hobbes by the head and smashed his knee into the tiger's mouth. There was blood everywhere. Both Calvin and Hobbes were crying as they fought. She started doubting herself again.  
"I want to stop this, to stop the pain. I can't, though. This was his choice. If I tried to stop him, then I would be suppressing his free will even further." She thought. She watched as Hobbes slashed his claws against Calvin's back. She wanted it to end, but she knew that it would not be right to intervene.

Calvin grabbed Hobbes by the neck and began choking him. Hobbes struggled to break free, flailing his arms violently, but to no avail.  
"I'm sorry, Hobbes." Calvin whispered to his friend. He threw Hobbes down and heard a loud crack. It was his tiger's neck. It was broken now. Hobbes tried to stand up, but he did not have the strength. He coughed up blood, looking upwards at his victorious adversary. Calvin was covered in blood and scars from the fight. His face looked like it was full of both rage and agony. He was angrier and in more pain than he had ever been as a child. Susie felt horrible seeing him like this. Calvin scowled at Hobbes, with tears in his eyes. His clothes, red and black striped shirt in particular, the same style he had worn since he was a child, were in shreds.

"It hurts, Calvin. Are you sure this is just an act?" Hobbes said.  
"No matter how much it hurts, it's not real. This part is going to hurt, old buddy. Don't worry, you won't die. I'd never kill you." Calvin whispered, readying the final part of Hobbes' faked death. Hobbes was skeptical.  
"So, I guess you're going to be one of the masses of morons populating Earth now. You're going to be normal. God, I hate normal people." Hobbes said.  
"Don't worry. You don't think I'd really kill you, did you?" Calvin said.  
"Well, it hurts like you are." Hobbes said, ready to cry.  
"I told you, this is all just a show for Susie. She's watching me kill you, right? She's going to feel like a monster for making me go through with this. Don't worry, Hobbes. You will live through this." Calvin reassured Hobbes.  
"You promise?" Hobbes said.  
"I promise. Trust me, even if I wanted you erased forever, I'd still have you lurking in my subconscious. You are a part of me, Hobbes. Monsters can try to change us and tear us apart, but we can never deny who we really are." Calvin whispered. He raised his voice, getting back to the act.  
"My old life ends here!" Calvin shouted. Hobbes stopped moving and closed his eyes. His body faded away into nothingness. The show was nearly over.

Calvin had effectively faked Hobbes' death. He turned to Susie, continuing his ruse.  
"Look at what you made me do! Are you happy?" He said to Susie with tears in his eyes.  
"Calvin. That's sweet of you to give up so much for me." Susie said, noticing Calvin's body covered in scars.  
"No! I don't want to be with you anymore! You made me lose my identity! You weren't worth it, you… you… Argh!" Calvin shouted, his words slurring into curses and anger. Susie was frightened. She was scared that Calvin was about to murder her inside of his mind. She disappeared from Calvin's now reckless and restless mind, no longer projected through magic. Calvin turned to the sky.  
"Hobbes, when I get out, I'm going to do something horrible. Please forgive me." Calvin said. Hobbes voice echoed through Calvin's mind through the sky. He was still very much alive.  
"It's okay, old buddy. I know what you're up to. It has to be done."

Calvin left his mind too, no longer in his meditative trance. He was not hurt. He had no scars, he was not covered in blood, and his clothes were intact. Susie awake, waiting for Calvin.  
"I'm so sorry, Calvin." She said.  
"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever fell for you and your mind invading love scheme. You're not worth it." Calvin said, his words dripping with bitterness.  
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to drive you to kill him! I didn't think it would be that bad!" Susie said with tears in her eyes.  
"I used to think all girls were slimy, but now I've just realized that it's just you, you manipulative bitch." Calvin said. Susie felt even more horrible.  
"I'm really sorry." She said with sincerity in her heart.  
"It's okay. I'll forgive you one day. Just don't expect me to ever be your boyfriend or have sex with you like we did in my mind."

Once Calvin returned home, he ran up to his room. He saw Hobbes waiting for him on his bed, where he usually saw him. He was not the normal tiger he was used to seeing, though. Hobbes was a stuffed tiger with an expressionless face and a glassy eyed stare. Calvin remembered the last time he saw Hobbes like this. It was when they first met, before he applied a persona to his tiger that would eventually develop into an imaginary friend and later, a piece of his psyche. It was back when he was a child and he found him one day, discarded in the middle of a forest. Calvin invented a game as an explanation. It was that he was out tiger hunting when he found Hobbes.

"Hobbes? Can you hear me?" Calvin said.  
"I hear you." Hobbes said.  
"I'm going to do something that would have been unforgivable before. Don't worry, you'll be okay." Calvin said. He grabbed the stuffed tiger and tore it to shred.  
"Are you okay, Hobbes?" Calvin said.  
"I'm okay. I don't feel a thing. What's going on?" Hobbes said from within Calvin's mind. Calvin proceeded with tearing the stuffed tiger. Hobbes was no longer bound to a stuffed tiger. He was something greater now. He was the only survivor left from Calvin's transition into adolescence. It meant that Calvin may have been a forced into being a changed man, but some parts of people simply never change. His childhood was over, but time could undo even the deepest wounds Susie and Killer had inflicted.

As the days went by, Calvin regained parts of his identity with a new outlook on life. His imagination returned, but it was different. Stupendous Man, Tracer Bullet, Spaceman Spiff, and even the dinosaurs all returned, but they did not live through hate, but creativity. He formed elaborate stories about his characters in his head and it never interfered with his life. Calvin was no longer interested in isolation and misanthropy. He made new friends through high school. He learned to love the world and the people in it. He fit in with the rest of the world, but did not compromise who he was to fit in better. He lived a happy and fulfilling adolescence, and transitioned into adulthood with ease. He still resented Susie for trying to transform him into something that he was not, but no longer considered girls to be gross and disgusting. He even ended up dating a few of them.

Even though Hobbes' body, his stuffed animal form was gone, he was still a part of Calvin. Calvin would have dreams sometimes, very happy dreams where he met Hobbes in a snowy field. They always went the same way. Calvin would hop onto his sled with Hobbes behind him. He always said the same words before starting down the hill.  
"Let's go exploring!"

The End


End file.
